Payne Stewart

Payne Stewart (January 30 1957 – October 25 1999), born William Payne Stewart, was an American golfer who won three Majors in his career, the last of which occurred only months before he died in a cross-country plane accident at the age of 42.

Stewart was born in Springfield, Missouri, and attended Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, where he was a member of Phi Gamma Delta. He was always popular with fans, especially for his clothing, and was reputed to have the biggest wardrobe of all professional golfers. He was a continual target for photographers because of his tam o'shanter caps and patterned trousers, which were a combination of plus fours and knickers.

Golfing life

Stewart failed to earn a PGA Tour card at Qualifying School in his graduation year, so he played on the Asian Tour for a couple of years, winning twice. He finally earned his PGA Tour card in 1982 and won his first event on the tour at that year's Quad Cities Open. He won eleven Tour events, including the 1989 PGA Championship and the U.S. Open in 1991 and 1999. He was a two-time winner of the Hassan II Trophy in Morocco.

Stewart represented the United States on five Ryder Cup teams (1987, 1989, 1991, 1993, 1999) and was known for his patriotic passion for the event. He was disappointed to miss out in 1995 and 1997 when he failed to qualify automatically and wasn't chosen as a captain's pick. Stewart also played for the U.S. on three World Cup teams.

Death

On October 25 1999, a month after the American team rallied to win the Ryder Cup in Brookline, Massachusetts, Stewart's life was cut short while flying in a Learjet from Orlando to Texas. National Transportation Safety Board investigators later concluded that the plane suffered a gradual loss of cabin pressure early in the flight and that all on board died of hypoxia, lack of oxygen. The plane, apparently still on autopilot, was observed by Air National Guard F-16 fighter aircraft of several states. Other than frost on the plane's windows, the military pilots saw nothing amiss but were unable to directly observe the Learjet's pilot or copilot, who did not respond to repeated radio calls. It is likely that the pilots and occupants already had lost consciousness. The plane continued flying until it ran out of fuel and crashed into a field near Aberdeen, South Dakota, after an uncontrolled descent. Among the five other people aboard the plane was Bruce Borland, a highly-regarded golf architect with the Jack Nicklaus golf course design company.

The 2000 U.S. Open, held at Pebble Beach Golf Links, began with 21 of Stewart's fellow players simultaneously hitting balls into the Pacific Ocean in a golf version of the 21-gun salute.

In 2001, Stewart was posthumously inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame.

On June 8 2005, a Florida state court jury in Orlando found that Learjet was not liable for the deaths of Stewart and his agent Robert Fraley, who had also been aboard the plane.

The 2005 U.S. Open marked the first return of the event to Pinehurst No. 2 since Stewart won on the famous North Carolina course in 1999. The weekend was filled with remembrances of and tributes to Payne. A bronze statue depicting his one-legged, fist-extended celebratory reaction following his tournament-clinching putt over Phil Mickelson was later unveiled near the 18th green.

Stewart was survived by his widow, Tracey, a native of Rockhampton, Australia.

PGA Tour wins

1982 (1) Quad Cities Open
1983 (1) Walt Disney Classic
1987 (1) Hertz Bay Hill Classic
1989 (2) MCI Heritage Classic, PGA Championship
1990 (2) MCI Heritage Classic, GTE Byron Nelson Golf Classic
1991 (1) U.S. Open
1995 (1) Shell Houston Open
1999 (2) AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, U.S. Open

Major championships are shown in bold.

Results in major championships

Tournament	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989
The Masters	DNP	DNP	T32	T21	T25	T8	T42	T25	T24
U.S. Open	DNP	DNP	DNP	CUT	T5	T6	CUT	T10	T13
The Open Championship	T58	DNP	DNP	CUT	2	T35	T4	T7	T8
PGA Championship	DNP	CUT	CUT	CUT	T12	T5	T24	T9	1

Tournament	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999
The Masters	T36	DNP	CUT	T9	CUT	T41	CUT	DNP	DNP	T52
U.S. Open	CUT	1	T51	2	CUT	T21	T27	T28	2	1
The Open Championship	T2	T32	T34	12	CUT	T11	T44	59	T42	T30
PGA Championship	T8	T13	T69	T44	T66	T13	T69	T29	CUT	T57

DNP = did not play
WD = withdrew
CUT = missed the half way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place.
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.

References

Aircraft Accident Brief of accident number DCA00MA005 from the National Transportation Safety Board.

External links